Guides · selling

The seller's guide to a stronger sale

What separates homes that sell from homes that sit, step by step.

1. Price is a strategy, not a wish

Buyers decide price with comparable sales, and they can smell hope. The evidence-based price comes from recent nearby sales adjusted for your home's specifics — condition, layout, lot, timing. Overpricing doesn't just risk sitting; listings that sit get discounted harder later than they'd have sold for early. Our free valuation shows you the comparables behind the number.

2. Prepare in the order of return

• Fix what inspections flag: safety items, active leaks, roof issues. Cheap now, expensive later.
• Deep clean and declutter: the highest-return hour you'll spend. Buyers buy space; clutter hides it.
• Paint neutral where worn: not everywhere — the walls that look tired.
• Skip major renovations: buyers rarely pay new-kitchen prices for your taste. Staging and presentation beat remodelling.

3. Market for how buyers actually shop

52% of buyers found the home they purchased online and70% searched on a phone. Translation: photography is the open house now. Every Khan Realtor listing gets professional photos, a written story of the home, and presentation built for a phone screen — see the standard we hold.

4. Showings and the first two weeks

The first two weeks on market are your highest-attention window — new listings get an algorithmic boost from portals and agents' alert emails. Price right, launch complete, and keep showings easy to book. Feedback gets filtered: one comment is an opinion; a pattern is data.

5. Offers: read the whole contract

The highest number isn't automatically the best offer. Financing strength, contingency width, timeline fit, and the buyer's agent fee request (no longer shown on the MLS since August 2024) all change the real value. We lay each offer out on one page: what you'd actually net, and when.

6. From contract to closing

Inspection negotiations, appraisal, title work, and the buyer's final walk-through — each has a deadline that protects you if you track it. Expect the buyer's lender to re-verify employment and credit before funding; advise your buyer-side counterparties quickly if anything changes.

Homes don't sell because of luck. They sell because the price, the presentation, and the timing were all true at once.